Posted on 06/17/2014 1:40:02 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Tim Lambesis, lead singer and founder of Christian metalcore band As I Lay Dying, recently confessed that he and other members of his band had become atheists but kept claiming to be Christians so they could keep making money selling records to Christians.
In a wide-ranging interview with Alternative Press shortly before he was sentenced to six years in prison last month for attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife, Meggan Murphy Lambesis, the singer addressed a claim he made last year in a YouTube video about his spiritual allegiance after fans started saying he had become a Satanist.
"A month before your arrest, you posted a YouTube video addressing fans who felt your new side project, Pyrithion, was 'satanic.' I remember watching the video at the time and noticing you never gave the easy answer: 'Of course not. I'm a Christian!' You knew people thought of you as a Christian. Weren't you lying by omission?" asked AP's West Coast editor, Ryan J. Downey, of the singer in the interview.
Lambesis responded: "Yes. If you say, 'This is what I believe, you can count on this. If you believe the same things, I'm on your team.' A lot of Christian parents said, 'Yes, you can buy this As I Lay Dying CD, because they're a Christian band.' They don't even think to actually check the lyrics. So when you change your views, you kind of owe it to the fans to be honest."
He explained that he was afraid of revealing his true thoughts about God because he was afraid it would affect the record sales of his band; so he simply chose to just say, "I'm not a Satanist" as a cover.
"As far as the [YouTube] video I did explaining Pyrithion's lyrics … I was trying to put out a fire. I was afraid it would affect As I Lay Dying sales, which would affect my overall income. I was trying to put out the fire by saying the easiest thing, 'I'm not a satanist!'" he explained.
"Truthfully, I was an atheist. The 'strategy' I had at the time was cowardly. Two of the songs on that record were about coming to grips with the idea that life has no purpose, no meaning. These were negative themes I wasn't 'allowed' to deal with in As I Lay Dying songs. I thought making As I Lay Dying darker would be bad for my career. That was my thinking," he said.
Lambesis noted that the majority of "Christian bands" he encountered while he was on tour had taken similar positions – where they were simply working to collect a check.
"We toured with more 'Christian bands' who actually aren't Christians than bands that are. In 12 years of touring with As I Lay Dying, I would say maybe one in 10 Christian bands we toured with were actually Christian bands," he said.
He also explained that he wasn't the first member of As I Lay Dying to give up on Christianity.
"I actually wasn't the first guy in As I Lay Dying to stop being a Christian. In fact, I think I was the third. The two who remained kind of stopped talking about it, and then I'm pretty sure they dropped it, too," he said.
"We talked about whether to keep taking money from the 'Christian market.' We had this bizarrely 'noble' thing, like, 'Well, we're not passing along any bad ideas. We're just singing about real life stuff. Those kids need to hear about real life, because they live in a bubble,'" he added.
He said after a while, the double life had become awkward.
"I remember one Christian festival where an interviewer wanted one of the guys [in the band] to share his testimony, and he just froze up and let one of the guys who was still a Christian at the time answer the question. We laughed about it afterward, but we were only laughing because it was so awkward," said Lambesis.
"When kids would want to pray with us after shows, I'd be like, 'Um, go ahead and pray!' I would just let them pray. I'd say 'Amen.' If praying while I have my hand on their shoulder makes them feel better, I didn't want to take that away from them. When they would specifically ask me to pray for something, I'd say, 'I don't really like to pray out loud, but I'll take that with me to the bus," said the singer.
Lambesis was arrested on May 7, 2013, in Oceanside, California, for attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife and subsequently sentenced to six years in prison on May 16, 2014.
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Let me show you my shocked face.
I swear, I truly hate some of the music being played at my church. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just me. Maybe I’m being too critical, but for most of the songs they play in church, I think to myself, “please hurry this song up” or “I can’t wait till the sermon starts”.
The lyrics to some of the songs just have no meaning. Most songs are about the person and have little focus on Jesus or God. And the worst part, they drone on and on and on, repeating the same lyrics over and over again like some Tibetan chant.
I wouldn't say all the people who might incidentally attend these churches aren't really Christians, but the people who put on these dog-and-pony shows most likely aren't.
It’s possible he got saved, but then the devil, associated with the entertainment and glitz, weighed in on him and he was not prepared for it.
Being an evangelist has its own risks. If I became a good rock and roll evangelist and then got secular come-ons, could I refuse them in spite of the worldly riches they might offer? I hope I could.
Please know it's not just you. The Spirit within you is grieving.
As I Lay Lying.
I’ve long been suspicious of people who make money in the name of religion. One experience that I had spoke volumes about the hypocrisy amongst some of these people. Some 50 years ago I found myself backstage during a concert in the South by nationally-known quartet singers. I was just taken aback by the vulgarity of the speech of the singers as they spoke to each other. I thought to myself: “If these people are Christians, the woods are full of them.” Yet, here they were, making thousands of dollars from their adoring fans.
To call a group of people who worship themselves and their capacity for self-reverential “entertainment” “Christian” is becoming increasingly difficult when the objective evidence points to these suburban blights as being neo-paganism in every regard. Where is the altar? There isn’t one. Where is there a Cross? There are no crosses. When is any reference made to Christ’s sacrifice in propitiation and perfect atonement for the sins of the world, including the sins of the latte-sipping dolts sitting in their reclining, triple-cushioned theater-style seats? Where are there any references to personal sin? Where are there any references to objective Truth? There are none – there is only “your truth and my truth”, “How I FEEEEL”, and then BRING ON THE ROCK BAND! — Ann Barnhardt
Jars of Clay seems to have been just the tip of the iceberg.
It IS possible to be over-critical about song that isn’t anti-Christian. The glory of Christ is many faceted and music can show it off quite well. Asking for other, “better” songs would be a superior approach, but of course in my humble redneck opinion.
Fascinating.
I would love a hint at who you are referring to. Also, what was the nature of the vulgarity you heard?
Watch carefully about your own begging the question. Heaping up gratuitous condemnations is a very good way to insulate yourself from the truly spiritual, to miss much of the grace of Christ. The Pharisees who complained about Jesus eating and drinking with the low lifes of town had that attitude.
Well, I guess what happened was of course the acts caught on and made sure to have high JPMs in their radio airplay offerings. So with that type of stricture to songwriting of course it all seems monotonous and mundane. But I guess the radio audience didn’t care, the point was they were hearing high JPMs so it must be good.
FReegards
Dave Mustaine still plays the same heavy metal as always but refuses to tour with blatantly anti Christian bands, is still married to the same woman after some 25 years, is a good dad, stands in support of Israel, opposes gay marriage etc.
He’s got a less than stellar past (Kicked out of Metallica for being a drunk) but says the bible is what saved him. He was also home schooled which probably made a big difference.
I’m not stopping you from going to your Super Fun Rock Band Church.
Could be the Holy Spirit longing for more... could be a hypocritical spirit carping.
I don’t even go to the music portion of our service any longer. They call it Praise and Worship Hour now, but to me its Karaoke in church, with a “team” performing rather than leading. Last time I attended, I looked around the congregation and noticed that even though the lyrics were being shown on the big screens, no one was singing.....they were just listening.
Oh no, you are just spreading broad brush aspersions. (I actually go to a pretty main stream Baptist congregation.)
I joined church security and assumed the job of keeping an eye on the lobby while the music is playing , then I join my wife when the sermon starts and enjoy Church.
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